It’s summer time which means snakes are active! It’s important to be aware of snakes and how to deter them to ensure your furry friends are kept safe.
Meet Voodoo, she was brought to Uni Vets Camden after she was found drooling excessively with a deceased snake in her backyard. She was rushed to Uni Vets Camden where blood results showed evidence of muscle breakdown and elevated clotting times, a common side effect from brown snake venom. Other symptoms of snake envenomation include respiratory distress, flaccid paralysis, red blood cell breakdown and blood in the urine. Luckily, Voodoo didn’t have other symptoms except dilated pupils and mild muscle damage. After 3 days of treatments and hospitalisation with anti-venom and fluids, Voodoo’s was ready to go home.
It is important to not try to touch, scare or kill a snake if you find one on your property, it is illegal to kill snakes in Australia. Dogs have a hunting instinct and while in this case that the snake was unfortunately killed; our best advice is to deter snakes from your property.
Here are out top tips to deter snakes:
- Keep your lawns short
- Ensure your yard/shed is free of mice and pet food.
- Keep your yard tidy with no stacked material (i.e. bricks, timber, metal etc)
- Remove overgrown vegetation on fence lines and ensure trees and shrubs are well maintained
- Ensure doggy doors are correctly installed with no gap around them
- Snakes love rock retaining walls - ensure you fill any gaps with concrete or hard fill
- Solar snake repellents are available online or at hardware stores
